A few in game questions

[Legate of Mineta]

Rhi;

"1.  No - or, at least, not in living memory.  There have been expulsions for students who have repeatedly ignored warnings and crossed lines, but the school generally doesn't refer offenders of this sort to the Guard.

2.  The Morvidus Regent has talked to her a time or two about which studies are considered appropriate and which studies are not.  Did she really listen?  Your player character probably isn't too sure.

3.  Yes.  Oh, absolutely, yes.  Our girl's father's bunch were the "Ordo Annuli et Calicis," a group devoted to "preserving the noble path" in the Academy and Mineta at large (and to throwing huge banquets), and there's very much a spot open for her."

[Dani]

How do you sign up for the Clubs, jobs, Societies and extra Classes ?

Is it all on the first day ?

Do you get a scene where you can decide to join if you passed some requirements?

Is there a list ?

Because if you dont know what you can sign up for that can be unfair.

Can you in theory sign up for more than 2 things ?

What happend when you Sign up for 2 Clubs or one job/one Club and you get an offer for a better thing ?

Is it time Dependance aka join only one Club because Clubs only meet in the afternoon and not in the evening etc. ?

 

Is there something Religion club/ Job ... ?

Can you join the Rimbal Team ?

Can you become something like a Club Leader ?

[Legate of Mineta]

Dani;

We haven't yet commented on Clubs, other than that is a Y2 Feature, sorry.

[Dani]

1. What is the political standing of a PC with History: Descended of Heroes.

Is it similar to Royalty just with a Focus on the Temples?

 

2. How would the Situation be with Descended of Heroes with and Without Descended of Royalty.

 

3.What would be the public perception of a PC with Descended of heroes, Royalty and Nobility.

 

4. PS. I think Catherine would be jelous of a PC as a Favored child of wealthy Heroes, Royalty and nobility.

With such a Background, would you be at the top of the Hierachy of your class ?

5. As a Descended of Heroes, would you be expected to Do work for the temple ?

[Legate of Mineta]

Dani;

"1.  The Temple of Iudocia connection is a meaningful one, yes, but the distinction can also be drawn in social terms - Descended from Heroes is more likely to win you a free meal and admiring conversation in a random tavern than a generically aristocratic origin might.  In terms of political opportunity, it can open doors for you, but it doesn't guarantee that you've had the upbringing to fit in among the Chards of the world.  (Descended from royalty, in contrast, suggests that you've got a documented pedigree that's so unassailable that people would call you "eccentric" rather than "boorish" if you failed a Dancing check at a ball.)

2.  Politically and socially, your word is certainly going to carry more weight if you were both.

3 and 4.  If you had all three of those backgrounds, you'd have ancestral ties to some of the most powerful families across Elumia and you'd be able to draw, at least a little bit, on the good will or respect (or, okay, fear) earned by your heroic ancestor.  Catherine might well be jealous, but she'd also see the value of being your best friend, and she'd probably be making small talk about which of her cousins you might marry someday for the good of both your houses. Or, you know, making a match herself.

5.  Expected?  Probably not.  Your heroic ancestor can be assumed to have performed a quest or a labor that benefited the temple, but didn't necessarily swear the family to its service forevermore.  (Which would be a cool Background idea!)  But it would probably be a pleasant surprise and/or minor coup for the Temple if you did, and under certain circumstances they might work to magnify your fame as well...."

[Dani]

For 3/4 would it make a difference if the PC is a Black sheep or a Favored child ?

[Rhialto]

36 minutes ago, Dani said:

For 3/4 would it make a difference if the PC is a Black sheep or a Favored child ?

In some of the content which I have already written for Y2, being a Black Sheep makes a difference.

[Legate of Mineta]

What Rhialto wrote.

[Dani]

1. How much will our reputation suffer for having the Background Purple Academy of thei ?

1,5. Will we be political and social limited due to that Background ?

2.How bad of a Reputation has the purple Academy of Thei ?

3. For what Reason would Highborn Royals send their Children to this School ?

I mean there are other far more popular / prestigious academys. So what would make Thei stand out compared to the other Academies or Tutors. Except (Redacted / Mastery) of course

 

4. What are the requirements to unlock the Adventure : Just another day in Mineta ?

[Good Coyote]

5. If you're a Black Sheep, what would you say are the worst and best other backgrounds to have, in terms of how dire your situation might get?

6. What are the main sources of salt in Elumia? Do most places have local sources of salt, or is it often an imported good?

7. Which if any places have workhouses? Debtor's prisons?

[Legate of Mineta]

Dani and Good Coyote;

"1.  This is a case where the mechanics themselves suggest the answer to the question: you come into the game 2% more likely than you would otherwise be to fall under scrutiny at any given time.  It reflects the fairly simple truth that you were associated with a fairly suspect institution... but you left it at age 11 or earlier.  People are a little bit wary of you, but the assumption is that you didn't learn anything too dangerous.

Engaging in Purple Academy-themed activities later in your academic career might change that balance, though.

1.5.  In the long term?  If you don't get into any future trouble, it will probably be assumed that your time at the Academagia taught you the error of your ways (or your parents/guardians/tutors' ways, more to the point).  Though there are certainly some courts out there where even a hint of childhood association might inspire dark whispers.

2.  In the general population, saying you went there would probably just inspire confusion - and maybe a bit of unease.  The glory days of the Purple Academy were centuries ago, and it was officially shut down; most people probably aren't aware that it was reopened, given that its current scale is quite small.

That said, the Purple Academy of old is largely remembered for collars of enslavement and various sinister kinds of enchanted chains.  It's not presented as the big bad guy in folk tales, but it's the mysterious place where tyrants would go to get magical equipment to dominate the local peasantry.  (Now, are these folk tales good history?  No, not really - if only because the old Purple Academy and its graduates didn't really have a lot of time for venal lordlings.)  If you go around bragging that, actually, you were a student there, a reasonable subset of the population is going to assume that you're not really suited for polite company.

3.  Why would Highborn Royals send their kids to the school?  Because it's actually quite good!  Combining enchantment and astrology is just not easily done, and the modern Purple Academy has tricks that even Vernin would envy.

Moreover, the whole reason the school was allowed to be reconstituted is that it did so under the auspices of the Von Hengst family, and their history of fighting against Mastery mages is absolutely impeccable - and they have more than a few drops of royal blood in their veins as well.  If your family has blood ties to the current Headmaster, Sarabine Von Hengst, then sending a child there for tutoring for a season or two before going to Mineta would be a sign of political support as much as anything else.

You might then ask, how does that square up with the Purple Academy as we experienced it in the story?  The sinister, shadowy version that seems to call back to the bad old days?

We would then chuckle knowingly and change the subject.

...

How's the weather in your part of Elumia?

4.  [Redacted]

 

5.  That's really subjective. We can't really say that being the Black Sheep of a Family Descended from Traitors (or maybe Descended from Heroes?) with an extra dose of Prodigy: Bad Luck Magnet is the worst of all combinations, but we would find it a pretty complicated life to live.  Especially if your Familiar is a rock.   

 

In terms of a happier narrative, We'd lean towards following up Black Sheep with having been a page, or having been apprenticed to a local wizard - something that implies that you made a different kind of home for yourself once the bridges with your starter family were burned.

 

6.  Rock salt is fairly common, as it happens - ironically enough, there's reason to believe that a significant percentage of the landmasses on which humanity now dwells were underwater for extended periods of time in an age before the world got ripped apart.  There are also alchemical specialists who extract particles of sea salt from the general atmosphere; sea-level magical volatility ensures that there's a fair amount of salty vapor getting blasted upwards pretty much constantly.

 

All that said, Mineta certainly consumes more salt than it locally produces, and it imports from various sources to the north.  (Durand's family controls a salt mine or two.)

 

7.  Debtors' prisons and workhouses, per se, aren't as common in the Renaglian-speaking territories as they are further north, but there are debtors who've been put to work in the Isola Triste (formerly a wizard's fortress and now the Captain's very own prison, not too far from Mineta proper) and in the surrounding farms.  You also sometimes see them clearing roads or improving existing ones; maintaining ease of non-magical transport is one of the Captain's minor obsessions."

[Dani]

Thanks For the Answer. That puts it into Perspektive a little more.

By their Name i suspekt von Hengst is from staade or at least of staaden heritage ?

So a royal from staade could be related ?

Also wasnt thei south of and Staade far north of mineta ?

So how did a staaden family gain that much controll in thei ?

[Legate of Mineta]

Dani;

"We can't believe we capitalized "von."

Anyway, yes, the von Hengst family is originally from Staade, Vilocian is Sarabine's first language, and a royal from Staade could well be related.

And the family - or a branch of it, rather - was given control of the region in which the Purple Academy now resides precisely because of their anti-Mastery credentials.  The von Hengsts led a company of wizard-adventurers/mercenaries that secured a degree of peace in the region a generation or so ago, and they were granted local titles and a decent chunk of land in exchange for continued service.  (That's not to say that they were unfamiliar with the place even then - von Hengsts were involved in the siege that broke the original Purple Academy.  They've historically been a very active campaigning house.)"

[Schwarzbart]

Find it interesting how one of my adventures now got full integrated into the lore.

[Legate of Mineta]

Naturally!

[Dani]

Is the von Hengsts family connection just random Lore or will it appear in adventure / in Story ?

(The family connection to thei and/or possibel staaden royal)

Will you be able to meet her ?

In summer school or otherwise ?

[Dani]

What Situation would it be for a PC with Wealthy, Descended from Heroes and Royalty but without a nobility Background ?

Would it be more like a landless noble with a great family tree ?

Or just a very high born Family ?

 

Extra Question: would a PC from up from destituted with no royal/noble background be able to become rich, famous and eventually buy a royal title ?

Is there a planned ending akin to a perfect ending where the PC could become Empereror ?

Preferable without the help of Dragons ?

 

0. Will thei take a time slot like the Gates school or will it Operate similar like Y1 ?

[Dani]

1. According to you in Y2

At what year do we start to specialise within the College focus so that not everyone of the same college have the same core class?

So is my assumption right that the Extra class with your regent is a different core class, than you would otherwise have in class.  you are then open to choose the other core class if you want, but are no longer required to.

 

2. What is the average course load of a valedictorian.

What makes them stand out. Especially because year 5 is mostly self study.

 

[Dani]

On 3/19/2021 at 8:24 PM, Legate of Mineta said:

An expanded answer for Schwarzbart:

"Descended of Royalty without Station: Nobility suggests either that you're descended from a cadet branch of the family that lost or voluntarily forfeited its titles or that you're descended from a royal bastard who never had a title to begin with but was sufficiently famous to be recognized and remembered.  You've grown up in a family line that means a lot to the family itself, but you didn't and don't necessarily enjoy elevated status in various courts and you're not likely to be sought out as an aristocratic marriage partner unless you bring a lot of wealth or personal accomplishment to the table.

Descended of Royalty with Station: Nobility means you're of a genuinely exalted bloodline and are likely to be invited to parties at one of Catherine's family's palaces at some point, even if the Chards and your family have been feuding for a century and a half."

Regarding the Question : 

 

What Situation would it be for a PC with Wealthy, Descended from Heroes and Royalty but without a nobility Background ?

Would it be more like a landless noble with a great family tree ?

Or just a very high born Family ?

 

Specifically my Question. I am Aware that without the Station: Nobility your Family are not Landruling Noble.

But i am wondering if the Combo Heroes and Royalty would be an indicater of for example a knightly Background ?

Everwines Family according to the Forum

On 8/20/2014 at 11:16 AM, Schwarzbart said:

- Everwine von Zoedorf’s father was made a knight after he pulled the Duke of Zoedorf’s son from a flooded river. By the duke’s decree, the title is hereditary – Everwine never mentions it because he knows no one would believe him.

 

Could this be a possibility or am i Way of and the Station:Nobility already has accounted for several different Types of Nobles ?

-> That was what i meant when i asked about landless Nobles.

 

 

2.

PS: Just the Auncish Kings have the divine bloodline, which is a requirement for the Imperial throne.

Can you have the Divine Bloodline even when you are not of Auncish descend ?

Or could you with a lot of fame and political backing fake your bloodline ?

Aka , turns out there was a royal Bastard in my family tree three Generation ago or Adoption Fun.

Or is it a magic think and you cant fake Divine Blood ?

 

3. If you have the Heritage Staaden / Auncish etc.   Is the travel time always the same , depends on the other Backgrounds or Is it Randomly selected ?

And because you can decide how you travel depending on Family or personal wealth. Are there different types of transportation depending on your home location ?

Example. A Highborn PC lives in a big City and has many choices while a destitute PC from a small village has none.

 

4. How does travel work ?

Is it similar like year 1 and you can choose what you do ?

More like a long Adventure ?

Or something else ?

 

[Legate of Mineta]

Dani;

"von Hengst: That would be telling.

1)  It could be one of a number of reasons: you could be of a bastard royal line, or a royal ancestor might have married a commoner (possibly even of the Heroic line) without the correct dispensation, or one's original estates and titles might have been lost in battle over the centuries.

Since none of those backgrounds imply any kind of stigma or opprobrium, though, we think it's fair to say a character with that particular combination to be considered very nearly noble (and eligible for a range of noble marriages) - and you probably do have a reasonably large estate somewhere, but as a private holding rather than one over which you'd exercise what we're gonna casually call feudal rights.  (I.e., you can't thrash the peasants with quite the same degree of legal impunity as Durand's family can.)

2)  And, yes, you can go from destitution from the aristocracy - particularly with the kind of magical education you're getting at the school.  It's not at all unheard of for very powerful wizards to receive titles and holdings from various duchesses, dukes and princelings if one joins their courts - and, even if you just stay in Mineta, the Captain (and, for that matter, families like the Chards) can pull strings and confer nobility in exchange for unusual service.

3)  Oh, I'm sorry, but our hypothetical plans for imperial politics are super-classified.

1.  Year 3 is when you will see the majority of the specializations begin to appear, but some will show up in Y2.

2.  The tradition is that there's a "Dux Alumni," or leader of the students, who delivers a valedictory address at the end of their senior year.  This person doesn't necessarily take more courses than anybody else, if that's the question; grades are expected to be good (and the DA typically is academically at the top of their class), but intangibles are considered as well.  Extra-curricular activities, prominent triumphs, "enriching" the Academy or Mineta more generally - all of those can play a part.  (As can professorial favoritism, though that really shouldn't be the case.)

And, in some cases, there really have been clear leaders of a given class: a century or so back a kid named Josaia Bloom, though a middle-of-the-road student, was credited with organizing the student body's defense against a siege from the Harpy Queen and her brood, and his leadership and clear-headedness under pressure left such an impression that nobody else could really have been appointed to the job.

(His actual valedictory speech was, from all accounts, a mumbled disaster, but he's still remembered fondly.)

3.  Thei: Time Slot.

1)  If we understand the question correctly - you are asking if a character who's of royal background and descended from heroes could have a hereditary knighthood attached to the family name... then yes, it's defensible.  You wouldn't be in possession of anything resembling a feudal estate, your family wouldn't have any vassals, and you certainly wouldn't enjoy tax exemptions or class-based legal protections (unless your legal skills were incredibly high and you wanted to push your luck in court), but if you tacked an honorific onto your name in your official correspondence you could probably get away with it.

2)  Actually "divine bloodline without royal descent" could probably be a background in and of itself.

There are Heroic lines that trace back to Auncish royals, and if you choose that background and consider that it applies to you, it's totally legit.

3 and 4)  Travel times for summer vacation can and do vary widely, and wealth does factor into it to a degree. If you're from a faraway part of Elumia, expect some time on an air ship.

Travel is different from what you have seen, systems-wise, in Y1.

[Dani]

Great Thanks, i somehow thought thei was not teached through a time slot.

But it makes sense.

1. What is the most prestigious Club or organisation a Student can join ?

2. Are there similar prestigious Positions / Jobs etc. Someone can join outside of Academagia ?

3. Does it matter in Y2 how often you skip class or can you skip once or 100 times for the same results.
Or depends it on the numbers of hall Session and Detentions ?

4. Like 3 but depends it on Hall Sessions, Detention and Reprimands ?

5. With that much talk about marriages and generell politics you will likely be Involved in as a noble. How much different will be a playthrough as an up from destitute commoner ?

6. Up from destitute commoner who is also a Black sheep.

7. Is it more likely that you can join a Guild as a commoner (up from destitute) and / or a Merchant than as a royal ?

7.1 extra so with a background artisan of skill ?

[Dani]

8. Will the Study of synchonisity also take a Time slot ?

[Dani]

9. Is there a possibility to join the College of the Optiones in Y2 or later years ?

College of the Optiones: College for prodigies who dont fit in one College and study under the Legate directly.

I suspect that such a path might be only open to prodigies who specialize in more than one Magic.

You mentioned that Orsi is currently  not interested, but would it be possible to convince him ?

[Legate of Mineta]

Dani;

"1.  Each College has its own Society of the Regent's Cabinet or Society of the Regent's Salon that's theoretically the best of the best; the Regents invite students to join personally, and introduce them to alumni and interesting people from the wider world as a way of grooming them for future greatness.

... That obviously means different things depending on whether you're dealing with Regent Massioti or Regent Badcrumble. 

2.  Yes, up to and including roles in the Captain's Court.

3 and 4. We would not suggest skipping 100 classes in Y2.  The number of marks on your record at any time does matter.

5.  As different as you want it to be, but of course there are some limits where your imagination needs to step in and take over.

6.  Clearly, the circumstances of some births are more awkward than others.

7.  On any question of Guild membership, it's down to your skills, your ability to impress a patron/sponsor, and maybe your ability to pay dues.  There aren't any specific checks to make clearing those hurdles as a royal more onerous than the default - though it's always possible that it would factor into certain story choices.  An Artisan background would make the patron/sponsor stage relatively streamlined.

8. Yes.

9. You aren't able to join in Y2, although you may give Orso some reasons to reconsider his stance."

[Dani]

On 3/10/2024 at 6:09 PM, Legate of Mineta said:

3 and 4. We would not suggest skipping 100 classes in Y2.  The number of marks on your record at any time does matter.

My Question was more about the Consequences of skipping in Y1.

And skipping in General.

Will the Consequences only include what Classes you can choose.

Or will constant Skippers have big Negative side effects. (Reputation etc.) ?

Will Skipping side effects be contained to the School or will it be General (for example skipping would give you Bad Reputation) ?

Because as it is now. Except for the perfect Attendance Bonus. Skipping helps immens in Building a Power PC.

 

Another Example is that it if you use the skipped class time on Research.

Would the Research have a bigger influence on the Character than skipping would have ?